Justice fires back -- privacy, the press and guns

Don't you just love it when the tables are turned? When the critic finally has to walk in the shoes of those he so often criticized? When the bully gets to experience what he so often inflicted on others? When the gander finally gets what’s been good for the goose?

One week after outrage over the publication of interactive maps identifying the names and adresses of legal gun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland county, New York, The Journal News -- part of the Gannett newspaper chain -- goes into hiding.

The newspaper that can't wait to throw in to your obituary that you had a misdemeanor conviction 20 years before you died… The same newspaper that sends reporters to your home. Calls your telephone number incessantly. Waits outside to catch your kids. Invades your privacy and prints whatever innuendo it wants.

Now those same people are hiding behind their so-called “sources” which they then refuse to reveal. Yes, the Journal News has gone on lockdown.

I'm one of the people that newspaper identified as being a lawful gun permit holder and yes, I am also one of those people who The Journal News has both idolized and criticized. But as an elected responsible public official I always took their questions, answered their inquiries, and took my hits.

The firestorm began when The Journal News identified gun owners in a pedophile-like interactive map:

- The battered woman hiding from her abuser whose address the courts have protected.

- The police officer whose family is now in jeopardy.

- The witness who testfied against the bad guy, who's had years to stew on his anger.

- Judges and DAs like me who not only indicted and prosecuted criminals but, as a Judge, actually put them in jail.

BUT when the heat is turned up, and we want answers, and we want to know why... You can't talk! You shut down.

Come on! Give us a hint!

Why did you decide to publish the map? Was it your leftist liberal anti-gun agenda? Did you even think about the consequences?

Was it all about money?

Will you step up if something happens to one of us?

You know you've made us vulnerable.

And what's your lame excuse for doing publishing the map? "We knew publication of the database would be controversial, but we felt sharing as much information as we could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings."

Really?

That's not enough.

One person -- the editor and vice president of The Journal News, Cyndee Royle - --who repeatedly called me when I was D.A. answered tersely – “Sorry, can't do that.”

And that would be… why?

And in the ultimate hypocritical move The Journal News looks to people with guns to protect them from the very danger they've created.

Might you have been hoisted on your own petard?

Now that you're under the microscope -- you look like a deer in the headlights.

You're looking pretty weak right now. My sources tell me you're scared. You’re hiding behind people with guns after criticizing those of us who legally own them.

Get the hell out of your elitist, egghead tower… put on your big boy pants…face the music and answer some questions.

By the way, I know your names and addresses, too. And I know where your families live. But my mother raised a lady.

I think about consequences.

I think about the anger out there -- it might put you in jeopardy, so I will be a lady and take the high road. But when you come out of hiding I've got a chair right here at Fox News Channel for you to sit down in and answer some questions.

Jeanine Pirro joined the Fox News Channel (FNC) in 2006 and currently serves as a legal analyst as well as the host of "Justice with Judge Jeanine," a weekend prime-time program (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET) that presents her legal insights on the news of the week, current high profile cases, as well as recent issues and trends in the world of crime and justice. Click here for more information on Jeanine Pirro.